If you’d like to see the flaky raspberry rhubarb pie recipe, please scroll down.

Hope everyone had a great long weekend! I would say we had a good and bad one. Bad because Allan got into a car accident, but good because it was a delicious weekend full of food, baking, and cooking. Friday night I went for drinks with one of my girlfriends and had a good, introspective talk. I knew the weekend was going to start out good when we bit into local BC organic peaches that were ridiculously juicy. Head down to Granville Island this week if you get a chance and snag some!

Saturday we played pitch and putt with some friends, then headed down to the New India Curry Buffet to eat all-you-can-eat curry and watch the fireworks with friends.

On Sunday we headed over to my parents’ house and spent the entire morning picking raspberries, boysenberries, blueberries, rhubarb, and herbs.

We were lucky enough to have some of my mom’s amazing creations… homemade waffles with blueberry sauce (berries from the garden!) and a recipe she was testing out for our engagement party in two weeks… homemade waffles cones and gelato from scratch! She’s crazy!

That night we decided to make some amazing beef lasagna with BC heirloom tomatoes, eggplant, zucchini, bechamel sauce, spanish chorizo, and pancetta. Check out my “best ever” recipe here for this amazing lasagna. You can substitute for all beef (like we did for this one) or vegetarian if you want.

On Monday we walked over to Williams-Sonoma to pick up a gift for a friend and start our wedding registry. Fun!

Oh, and of course we had to stop for Purdy’s ice cream… a must in the summer

Yesterday (on Monday), I also got the chance to bake my first ever pie. It is based on a combination of my grandma’s recipe and a recipe I found in one of my cookbooks. Even though they might not have looked as nice as I would have liked, the crust is perfectly flaky and the filling is tart, fruity, and flavourful. Allan and I both thought it was the best pie we’ve ever had (sorry Grandma! … ), but of course… we’re biased.

PERFECT FLAKY RASPBERRY RHUBARB PIE RECIPE
Makes enough for 2 pies, in approximately 9″ pie plates

Pie Crust Ingredients:
4 cups flour
4 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks of very cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup of Crisco
4-8 tablespoons of ice cold water
For egg wash: 1 yolk with 1 tablespoon of water, whisked

Raspberry Rhubarb Pie Filling Ingredients:
4 cups of raspberries (and boysenberries if you like)
3 cups of rhubarb cut into half-inch pieces
2.5 cups of sugar (this is for a tart pie, if you like it more sweet, use 3 cups)
6 tablespoons of tapioca flakes
2 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon of salt
2 tablespoons of melted unsalted butter
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon (I love cinnamon so I put 1 teaspoon, but you can omit this or decrease it)
1/2 teaspoon of squeezed lemon juice

1. Combine 2 cups of flour with the sugar and salt in a large bowl. Using a pastry cutter, cut the cold butter into the flour until marble-sized and do the same with the shortening after. Stir in the rest of the flour. Sprinkle with 3 tablespoons or so of water.

2. Firmly squeeze the flour against the sides of the bowl until somewhat combined. Pastry should feel quite dry and crumbly. Do not add too much water. Only add drops at a time until there’s enough to just hold it together. Dry crumbs are good — means it will be flaky. Separate dough into four balls and refrigerate. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

3. Now make the filling. In a large bowl mix sugar, flour, tapioca, salt and butter. Now combine with the raspberries and mix them gently into the sugar mixture. Let sit for 10 minutes and then add in the rhubarb and gently combine. Set aside.

4. The key here is to roll out the pastry on top of something you can flip over. A cutting board, pastry mat, or anything similar works. We used a pizza tray lined with floured parchment paper on top. Now roll out one ball of dough gently (rolling in one direction at a time) using plenty of flour until dough is larger than the pie plate edges. Gently flip dough over onto pie plate and then put into fridge. Repeat once more with the other pie plate. Now place both pie plates in oven for about 8-10 minutes until just lightly browned. This keeps the bottom crust still crispy during the later cooking.

5. Now let’s roll out the top crusts. Do the same as step 4 and make sure the crust is big enough to fit over the pie plate. By now you should be able to take the pie plates out of the oven. Fill the bottom crust pie plates with your filling. Now gently flip over the top pie crusts and seal the edges by pressing them. Trim any excess and cut out some cute vents in the top. Brush VERY lightly with egg wash, do not brush the edges, just the middle.

6. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the top is just golden brown. Do not burn the edges.

7. Let cool for at least 30 minutes. ENJOY!

Serve with something sweet like ice cream or whipped cream and fresh berries. Soooooooooo flaky and GOOD!

Help us decide what kind of bar to have at our wedding! Scroll down and leave a comment to vote.

This summer my new thing is about creating cocktails in pitchers with fruit and other delicious ingredients. I’m in love with the Pottery Barn pitcher that my mom purchased for me from a Seattle Outlet several weeks ago. Hopefully I’ll end up with around 3 pitchers for the summer so I can serve some different kinds of cocktails at my patio parties.

This past weekend I made a modified Brazilian kiwi caiprinha. A couple of my coworkers are from Brazil and they’ve been talking to me a lot about caipirinhas — so I got on the bandwagon. A Brazilian caipirinha is made from Brazilian cachaça which is a type of rum made in Brazil from sugar cane, mixed with fruit. This drink has a very full, rich flavour because of the cachaça. It’s similar to a mojito but a little bit spicier or heavier in flavour. It’s very refreshing and I love the fruit component. It’s by no means a very traditional caipirinha (because of the added soda water and apple liqueur), but it’s still delicious.

ALLIE’S BRAZILIAN KIWI CAIPIRINHA COCKTAIL RECIPE

- One large glass pitcher
- 6 ripe kiwis
- 6-8 oz of Brazilian cachaça, such as Sagatiba Pura (I found mine at the BC liquor store at Cambie and 41st)
- 3-4 oz Giffard’s Manzana Verde (apple liqueur, but any tart fruit juice would work fine like pear or apple juice)
- Two fresh limes, squeezed, and one lime cut up into thin slices
- 1/4 cup or less (sweeten to taste, I like less sweet) of raw cane sugar
- Three cans of club soda
- 1 large handful fresh mint

Mix everything in a pitcher and enjoy! Fill the pitcher with as much ice as possible… Works GREAT with summer BBQs.

In others new.. Allan and I have been doing a lot of thinking on the type of alcoholic bar to have at our wedding. We are trying to keep our costs down, but most of all want our friends to have a good time. It seems that everyone I talk to has a different opinion. Here are the different options we are looking at:

1. OPEN BAR: Everyone has as much to drink as they want, but runs the risk of getting “sloshy” or many unfinished drinks, also very expensive
2. TOONIE BAR: Perhaps give out a few free drink tickets, and then people pay $2 for an additional drink. More to prevent wasting of drinks and to prevent the party from getting out of control. Also helps pay some costs like the bartender fee. You can get a lot of drinks for 10 or 20 bucks, but hopefully it keeps people from wasting their drinks.
3. TICKET SYSTEM: Basically purchase a pre-set amount of tickets and hand out to guests accordingly. Could look cheap but prevents certain individuals from going overboard.

What do you think? What is the best system to have at a wedding? Any other ideas? Please vote below and help us decide!

Playoff fever is hitting the city of Vancouver, and even though I haven’t made a post about it yet… rest assured, I have been watching every Canucks game and following the team with dedication this year. After all, I did wear my jersey every single day of the playoffs last year as my “playoff beard”. You can check out some of my other posts on the Canucks.

I think the Canucks have a pretty good shot at the playoffs this year, despite some problems in the last two games against the Kings. I think they will pull through and get a win tonight, and we’ll see the Sedins step up again and hopefully Edler will come out hitting. It’s been a humbling time for Luongo and I think many fans are falling off the Lou bandwagon as his performance has been less than stellar as of late. Still — I believe in Blue and Lou (get it?  ha ha) and I’m rooting for my ‘Nucks all the way.

Go Canucks Go!

Anyway, in other news, this past weekend Allan and I cooked up some pretty ridiculous fish and chips. Yes, we cooked it in duck fat. Wait… before you recoil, know this: animal fat gets a bad rap but it’s actually pretty good for you. It doesn’t contain any of the chemicals that some butters, margarines and oils do… and it certainly tastes a lot better. Still, if you don’t want to cook using animal fat, simply modify this recipe and use canola oil instead.

Other compliments to the meal that we made?

Homemade aged-cheddar cheese buttermilk biscuits… (see recipe here) …

And dark chocolate chunk cookies (see recipe here) for dessert.

DECADENT GUINNESS-BATTERED FISH AND CHIPS COOKED IN DUCK FAT RECIPE

1 package of duck fat (approx 8 oz or more, you can find this at your local butcher or in Vancouver at Oyama Sausage on Granville Island)
Canola oil for frying (a few cups depending on how much duck fat you use)
2-4 large russet or other starchy potatoes, peeled and chopped into fry strips the size of a finger
1 cup flour
1 cup rice flour plus 1/2 cup rice flour for dredging
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon chili powder/cayenne/paprika (choose one or use a mix)
2 Tablespoons chopped parsley (optional)
1 large egg, beaten lightly
1 can of Guinness beer or other dark beer (use about 75% of the can) .. THIS MUST BE COLD.
2 fillets of cod, halibut, haddock or turbot fish (approx 8 oz each, cut into half on an angle)
Tartar sauce, malt vinegar and lemon squeezes if you want

1. Heat the duck fat and enough canola oil (likely 1-2 cups, enough to cover the chips and eventually the fish) in a large bottomed pot or a deep fryer to 325 degrees F. Use a oil/candy thermometer if you have one, otherwise try and eyeball it on medium-high heat.

2. Place the chips in the oil/fat and dry for approximately 2 or three minutes. They won’t be fully cooked yet, but remove them to a plate lined with plenty of paper towel to drain.

3. Raise the temperature to 375 degrees F and then start mixing your dry ingredients.

4. In a large bowl, mix together the rice and normal flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, pepper, chili powder, and about 75% of the parsley. Now, mix in the egg. Whisk in the beer until the batter is smooth. Now quickly coat the fish in the rice flour (on a separate plate) and then dip them into the batter, making sure you shake off the excess batter. Too much batter will cause your fish to be kinda mushy with overly thick batter.

5. You are now going to fry the fish and the chips in the same pot. If there isn’t enough space for both, do it in batches (fries first and then fish for 4-5 mins each). Otherwise, place the fries and fish in the pot making sure they are submerged completely. Fry for 4-5 mins until crispy brown. You may want to flip over the pieces of fish at around 2 minutes so that both sides are evenly brown. Remove to a plate. Let sit for a couple minutes (the fish will continue to cook inside and this will allow it to retain the juiciness).

6. Sprinkle with freshly ground salt and pepper and a little fresh parsley.  Serve and eat… yum! I ate mine with a biscuit instead of fries, but Allan had his with the chips. Both taste great! Sooooo good. It was really crispy.

Lasagna recipe halfway down this post… This past weekend was very relaxing, but also very refreshing. On Saturday, Allan and I spent most of the day cleaning the apartment, watching a couple movies at home, and playing video games.

Saturday was much needed, as it’s been a while since my entire family got out and did something together. Sure, we usually see each other every week… but it was nice to get out of the house and do activities together.

First, Allan and I stopped by my parent’s house to pick everyone up. My dad’s tulips were out in full force…. reminding me that spring really is here!
Then it was off to the driving range.

It was fun to get together and hit a couple balls… although I ended up trying to teach them the golf swing most of the time, haha. Reminds me how I really need to get back into going to the range regularly before I’m ready to play on full courses again this year.

We then headed to the theatre to watch “Date Night”, Tina Fey and Steve Carell’s new movie. It was funny and endearing, albeit a little strange to watch with my parents. We also stopped at the farmer’s market in Richmond that my parents normally go to, and picked up a couple bags of produce.

Then, it was back to the house where we madly consumed some amazing “leche flans” that my mom makes (it’s kinda like crème caramel)…

Finally, we finished the day at Granville Island where we picked up our weekly groceries and got supplies to make lasagne… Allan has been asking me to make my lasagne for a while now, so I FINALLY got to it. Last night we also watched Food Inc, which was quite the eye-opener, but I’m going to save that for another post.

ALLIE’S “THE BEST LASAGNE EVER” LASAGNA RECIPE
Makes a 9×13 pan of lasagne, enough for 8-10 people

Allan declares this the best lasagna he has ever had (and he’s had quite a few), and quite honestly I would agree. I know that’s not very humble, but seriously, this lasagna will rock your world.

My lasagne recipe has changed a lot over the years. It started with a simple bolognese sauce recipe that I got from my mom when I started cooking after high school. It was always layers of pasta with the meat sauce. In my last year of university, I started using ricotta cheese to make the dish more rich. Finally, when I graduated and traveled to Italy, I had the most AMAZING lasagne and discovered the secret of béchamel sauce, which actually is a more traditional Italian way of making lasagne (or so they say) but not as widely used in North America. Now, several iterations later, I think I’ve managed to put together a pretty darn good lasagne recipe. I use “lasagne” and “lasagna” interchangeably here for my recipe, because I think it combines some good Italian traditions with a bit of a North America twist.

The secret? Fresh pasta, a rich tomato meat sauce, the béchamel sauce (far superior to ricotta in my opinion), and good quality cheeses. I also like a layer of zucchini in there, but of course it’s completely optional. Last night I tried cooking with veal for the first time instead of beef, and I’m totally in love. I realize that this may be a moral/ethical issue for some, so feel free to substitute beef/pork/chicken for the veal. But if you don’t mind, it really is divine and I can’t recommend it enough.

Ingredients:
Please use high quality organic, local ingredients whenever possible.

3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 lb ground veal (can substitute beef… but I highly recommend Montreal milk-fed veal from Granville Island or your local market)
1 lb ground pork
4 oz pancetta, chopped
1 Spanish chorizo sausage, chopped
2 red onions
6 cloves of garlic
3 carrots, chopped (if using non-organic carrots just use one large one)
4 celery stalks, chopped
1 zucchini, thinly sliced into rounds (optional)
1 red pepper, diced
1 6 oz can tomato paste
1 medium/large can of Italian tomatoes
1/2 cup strong red Italian wine
1/2 cup of 2% milk for the meat sauce, plus 3 cups milk for the béchamel
2 handfuls of fresh herbs (oregano, basil, thyme, rosemary, and one bay leaf)
5 Tablespoons of unsalted butter
1/4 cup of good quality flour
1/2 teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch of ground chili pepper or paprika/cayenne
About 1 lb of fresh pasta sheets (homemade preferred, but you can also buy from your local market)
1 cup of grated Parmigiano Reggiano
1 cup of freshly grated mozzarella (preferably a Tre Stelle mozza ball.. you can find these at supermarkets or Whole Foods in a pinch)
1 large Bocconcini ball (fresh mozzarella balls), sliced
Salt and pepper

1. Using a large saucepan or dutch oven (e.g. a big Le Creuset or other large pot), heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic, stir a couple times, and then add the carrots, celery and cook until translucent approximately 5-7 minutes.

2. Add the meats (veal, pork, pancetta, and sausage) and stir vigorously to break up the meat.  Use high heat to brown it. This should take approximately 10 minutes.

3. Now, add the milk and stir in gently. This actually protects the meat from the acidity of the other ingredients so it is very important to add the milk first. Then, add the wine, tomato paste, and hand crush in the tomatoes from the tin. Add half of the tomato sauce from the tin, but set aside the rest for later. Stir for a few minutes, and then add in the fresh herbs. Season with salt, pepper, and a bit of chili pepper and then simmer this over medium heat for about 30-45 minutes until thick. When almost done, stir in the red peppers.

4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. When the meat sauce is almost ready, you can now prepare the béchamel sauce. Melt the butter in a separate saucepan and then whisk in the flour until very smooth over medium heat. Keep stirring for about6 minutes until the mixture turns golden. Then, bring the 3 cups of milk to a boil in a separate small pot. Add a bit of milk at a time to the butter mixture, whisking the sauce each time to keep it very smooth. When you’ve used all the milk, you’ll want to bring the sauce to a boil, and then turn off the heat and stir in the nutmeg, salt, pepper, and chili pepper for another minute or so. Set this aside off the hot burner.

5. Yay, time to assemble everything! Grease the 9×13 pan with butter. Quickly douse the fresh pasta in cold water and gently squeeze off the excess liquid. Now cover the bottom of the pan with the meat sauce, layer the pasta, then pour half the béchamel mixture in and spread it out. Sprinkle half the parmesan over it, then layer the zucchini in rounds over it. Layer another pasta, then meat sauce, then pasta layer. Now for the last layer: Spread the rest of the meat sauce (should be fairly thin now), then the rest of the béchamel sauce, the rest of the parmesan… now place a couple bocconcini slices around the pan (approx one per “serving” of lasagne), and spread the rest of the grated mozzarella over the entire dish. Lastly, grind a very small amount of salt, and a regular dose of freshly ground pepper over the dish. It’s important to make sure that each layer of pasta is fully covered so that it cooks properly.

6. Bake in the oven for 35-45 minutes, but watch carefully and make sure the top is golden brown. Make sure you let the lasagne cool for about 20 minutes before serving.

7. DIG IN! It’s amazing

Yes, this post is pretty much everything but the kitchen sink. Snowboarding, logos, food… yeesh!

First off, I want to share an awesome new logo/graphic that my long-time and good friend Mike M. made! He knows I love surfing and snowboarding, and so he created an amazing new identity for me to make into a graphic for my snowboard. I love it! Thanks Mike!

Before I get to the recipes, I wanted to talk a little bit about our plans for the upcoming easter weekend! Remember that contest that I entered for catboarding? Check out the video entry I sent in below. I was surprised several weeks ago to find out that I won! So we’ll be heading to Mustang Powder for three full days of sweet, sweet catboarding at their remote lodge including food and accommodation! Allan had to pay for himself so I’m going to help out with that… so really it’s more like getting catboarding for half price.

Packing for the trip starts this afternoon, and then we’re off early tomorrow morning for a 7 hour drive almost near Revelstoke into the Monashees mountains where we’ll be picked up by snowcat to get to the lodge. I am extremely excited. You can bet that we’ll be taking lots of photos and videos.

In other news, somehow I got roped into cooking a couple times during this busy week, so I thought I’d post up a couple more photos and two more recipes for you to try out. The first is the arctic char. I actually had this dish at West Restaurant here in Vancouver, but there was no recipe for it in their cookbook. So I created this dish only from taste and memory, but I totally lucked out and it actually turned out almost identical! This is one of my favourite fish dishes because of the really crispy skin but tender buttery flesh, along with the contrast of texture and flavour of the fennel, mushrooms and spinach.

Crispy Arctic Char with Crispy Fennel, Buttery Mushrooms, and Spinach Puree Recipe

2 fillets of arctic char or one whole fish (we found ours at Granville Island)
1 bunch of spinach
1 fennel bulb
1 shallot
1 cup chicken stock
Half a paper bag assorted mushrooms (preferably chanterelles, Portobello or those small clumpy white ones that I’m not sure the name of, they usually come stuck together in a box)
4 tablespoons of butter
Olive oil, salt and pepper

First, make sure the fish is scaled, de-boned and filleted. Leave the skin on. Wash each fillet and then pat dry with paper towel. Salt and pepper both the skin side and the flesh side.

Cook the spinach with a tablespoon of butter in a pan until vibrant green. Place into a blender (but don’t blend yet) and set aside.

Slice the fennel bulp into small strips (peel outside layer).

Cook the fennel with another tablespoon of butter (yes, this is about taste and not healthiness, feel free to substitute for olive oil) at a very high heat until crispy and browned. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside. Then cook the mushrooms in a tablespoon of butter until browned, and add salt and pepper.

Start boiling the chicken stock. Lastly, heat the last tablespoon of butter with tablespoon of olive oil and cook the arctic char fillets skin side down until VERY crispy, approximately 3-4 minutes. Then flip over and cook another 2-3 minutes until the fish is firm yet still soft and flaky inside.
Quickly blend the boiling chicken stock (approx half a cup to a cup, depending on how much spinach you have… you want a creamy texture) in the blender with the spinach. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve! Spoon the spinach puree into the bottom of a large bowl or plate, and then top with the fennel and mushrooms, and lastly serve the arctic char skin side up. Delicious!

Next up… beef short ribs last night. This was heavily adapted from a Mario Batali recipe. This is Allan’s favourite meal in the whole world and he constantly pesters me to make it. It’s fall off the bone delicious, and very rich. It also makes a large batch and heats up great for leftovers. This is a great way to make any man fall in love with you

Tender Beef Short Ribs with Red Wine and Creamy Pappardelle

4 x 12-14 oz beef short ribs with bone, well marbled (we like ours from Tenderland Meats at Granville Island)
2 cups nice red wine, preferably a Barolo if you’re baller, or a cheaper Cabernet Sauvignon
3 Carrots
2 Celery stalks
4 shallots
5 cloves of garlic
2 sprigs thyme
1 sprig rosemary
1 sprig oregano
2 sprigs parsley
2 Bay leaves
1 Tablespoon dried juniper berries
1 can Italian tomatoes
3-4 cups veal or beef stock (Stock Market at Granville Island is awesome)
Fresh homemade pasta or dried pappardelle noodles
Assorted wild mushrooms
1 cup whipping cream
2 Tablespoons butter
1/4 cup Parmigiano Reggiano, finely grated
Handful of pine nuts
Olive oil, salt and pepper (also white pepper if you have any)

First, salt and pepper the ribs. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Heat a deep dutch oven or large saucepan (Le Creuset if you have it) over high heat with 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Cook the short ribs about 3 minutes each side until deeply browned, approx 15 minutes. Set the ribs aside on a plate.

Now cook the shallots, carrots, celery, and garlic in the same pot, making sure to scrape the browned bits off the bottom of the pan until the vegetables are slightly soft and browned. Crush in the Italian tomatoes by hand but do not add the juices. Add the wine and stir.

Now add the veal or beef stock. Try adding 3 cups and see how the levels in your pot look. Would it cover the ribs? If so, that’s enough. Otherwise — add another cup. Then add the herbs, juniper berries, and any extra spices. Cover and place in the oven, cooking for approximately 2 1/2 hours.

Meanwhile, make your fresh pasta or ready your dried pasta. When there’s about half an hour before you take out the ribs, start by placing 2 tablespoons of butter in a pan and on medium-heat, melt until bubbly. Add the whipping cream and bring to a boil, then simmer for about 15 minutes until slightly thick. Meanwhile, in a separate pan cook the mushrooms in a little olive oil or butter until soft. When the cream mixture is thick, add some white pepper (or normal pepper), salt, and the Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. Stir in until smooth and creamy.

Check on the ribs. At 2.5 hours, take the pot out and let sit uncovered for a few minutes. Take the ribs out to cool.

Scoop out and discard excess fat and oil from the pot. Strain the rest of the mixture through a sieve. Shred the beef and then place into the strained sauce.

Just before serving, mix the mushrooms into the cream sauce and stir in the cooked pasta noodles.

Enjoy! Serve the noodles up and then place pieces of beef over the noodles. Sprinkle some pine nuts and slices of Parmigiano Reggiano over to finish. Yum!

——

And that’s it… see you guys on Tuesday when we are back from our trip! What are your plans for the Easter long weekend?